What's the point with that quite lackluster story in Endwalker?

[Reap00]

I love when people shit on the 6.x story arc when it was legit better than 6.0. Is the main issue here really that the story and characters are ripped from FFIV? I didn't play that game, didn't get any of the references and liked it. Zero should have been better set up in 6.0 already though I can't fault the patch storyline for that. Her journey was cliché but fun and developed at a good pace.

It suffers (like all of the story really) from presentation issues and (and this is completely my own personal bias) the Japanese cultural influences that lead people to respect other's sometimes at least seemingly, sometimes definitely idiotic actions way beyond what I personally consider reasonable (see Lyse in Stormblood) without so much as even asking the (to a Westerner) neccessary and obvious questions that would lead to clarification and greater understanding in the future for the sheer fear of exposing one's or another's shortcomings and thus bringing shame upon them. Happens in the story all the time that someone does something questionable and it's just being respected instead of questioned and explored. It comes across as people not being genuinely interested in one another and potential plotpoints or even tension between characters not being exploited, when in reality these characters treat each other with a sort of reverence that's (generally speaking) foreign to people in the West. I can't really fault the story for that though so much as myself.

To give an example from the patch content, nobody bats an eye at Zero's decision not to involve herself in the fight against Scarmiglione, while when looking at it from her perspective that was perfectly serviceable aether on a silver platter for her, just taking into account the selfish aether-hungry point of view that she had demonstrated before, without doing us any favor. That's way before we learn that aether from other, especially powerful voidsent can corrupt and destroy one's identity - so it does get explained eventually, but I was confused as shit about it in the moment while the characters in the game were just fine with it, probably thinking to themselves that it's not becoming of them to ask why. Is that bad storytelling or is it just a cultural quirk? I think it's the latter. But it kinda throws me out sometimes cause I feel like I can't culturally relate to those characters, but then again I also feel richer for it and it gives the story an air of mystery that can work in it's favor as well.

Thinking back on Stormblood and Lyse I actually liked how especially Alisaie treated her with a sort of dignity, patience and warmth that is pretty uncommon to see when dealing with a character like her in the West.

I can do this too. 6.0 post patches were boring and I literally had zero interest in them. I was very happy to see it end. 6.0 by comparison was amazing. La la la

[ZavosEsperian]

I can do this too. 6.0 post patches were boring and I literally had zero interest in them. I was very happy to see it end. 6.0 by comparison was amazing. La la la

Meanwhile, I find both of them rather difficult to enjoy due to various plot holes that exist. That being said I wont tell you what you should think is "good" or "bad"

[Lady_Silvermoon]

Meanwhile, I find both of them rather difficult to enjoy due to various plot holes that exist. That being said I wont tell you what you should think is "good" or "bad"

I was just happy no more blood was being added to our ledger. "Oh, a story about the power of friendship, that's cool." Though I really hope we're done with the assisted suicide boss fights, it's getting depressing. I'm tired of powerful beings using the WoL to end their existence. Build a volcano or something and leave me out of it.

[Vyrerus]

I'm still a bit bent out of shape about the whole dialogue between Zero and Durante.

"Do you think we could truly have the world of old back?"

"Anything is possible if we work together!"

Straight up kneecapping their own themes for the 6.0 expansion in the 6.5 story resolution. I'm not sure if they've ever done that quite so overtly before.

[Theodric]

It's unfortunate but it's exactly what I expect to see more of moving forward. The game has always been exceedingly preachy but I think a lot of people could stomach it much more easily when it at least tried to be consistent.

That aside, I remain morbidly curious to see what the upcoming Fan Fest intends to reveal in order to drum up excitement and further investment in the game's story.

[EgilTheStressedMage]

I'm still a bit bent out of shape about the whole dialogue between Zero and Durante.

"Do you think we could truly have the world of old back?"

"Anything is possible if we work together!"

Straight up kneecapping their own themes for the 6.0 expansion in the 6.5 story resolution. I'm not sure if they've ever done that quite so overtly before.

Bold of you to assume the writers remembering anything they didn't write, like, or want in their story.

[Palladiamors]

Bold of you to assume the writers remembering anything they didn't write, like, or want in their story.

And that is the problem with projects of this nature, too many hands in the pot. When you have writers who can work with and respect others work it's fine but XIV hasn't had that since at LEAST Stormblood and I feel like people could point me to earlier examples as well.

As someone who has voraciously devoured books since first grade, the worst thing you can do is have multiple writers work on the same story or book series without a strong collaboration. At best it feels like taking an unexpected step down in the dark, at worst like you just dropped off a cliff.

[strawberrycake]

I feel like XIV in particular has just gotten away from what it means to tell a compelling story. A lot of what drew me in was the internal conflicts of the WoL as well as the possibility that we were fighting a fight that would possibly be our undoing. But it ultimately fell short due to so much of what has happened, what was happening and now seemingly what is going to happen, be reduced to Shounen anime nonsense with a feel good msg. And I'll be honest, some of my favorite animes are just that, but at least in those cases it doesn't feel reductive. Metion feels reductive, how the ancients turned out feels reductive.

One moment I'm praising the story for there to be this possibility that the planet itself was enacting a possible cycle, this unknown sound coming seemingly from deep within the planet, to a giant bird familiar who's too empathetic, manipulating the powers of emotion to exact her vengeance for making her feel feels......Can we go back to when we thought Zodiark and Hydaelyn were two parts of some bigger Primal God that was in the earth making the sounds that turned people into monsters?

[Solakor]

I feel like XIV in particular has just gotten away from what it means to tell a compelling story. A lot of what drew me in was the internal conflicts of the WoL as well as the possibility that we were fighting a fight that would possibly be our undoing. But it ultimately fell short due to so much of what has happened, what was happening and now seemingly what is going to happen, be reduced to Shounen anime nonsense with a fell good msg. And I'll be honest, some of my favorite animes are just that, but at least in those cases it feels reductive. Metion feels reductive, how the ancients turned out feels reductive.

One moment I'm praising the story for there to be this possibility that the planet itself was enacting a possible cycle, this unknown sound comming seemingly from deep within the planet, to a giant bird familiar who's too empathetic, manipulating the powers of emotion to exact her vengence for making her feel feels......Can we go back to when we thought Zodiark and Hydaelyn were two parts of some bigger Primal God that was in the earth making the sounds that turned people into monsters?

This.
I don't understand how you can eat up this nonsense after the more mature writing that happened before.
Like how do the "best minds" who can literally do almost anything decide that an immature kid who is confused with his emotions and how the world works should be a leader of a section of their society and then make him able to create a thing without restraints?
And the biggest offender, power of feelings. M8 did they pay disney for the copyright for that?

I will give the writer a bit of leeway for covid and trying to cram everything into a single patch so ultimately the fault lies with the one who decided they need to wrap things up quick.
IMO they should have just took their time and made 2 expacs to flesh out the garlemald arc and then the asciancs arc.

[Lady_Silvermoon]

And the biggest offender, power of feelings. M8 did they pay disney for the copyright for that?

Oh how I wish my problem with Endwalker was that it had a lame saccharin sweet moral. Because see, the moral I got wasn't the power of feelings, but that for the strong to survive, the weak must be culled. And the weak are any ethnic group sitting on land we want and the mentally ill. Hermes, Meteion and the blasphemies are all dangers to society due to an inability to handle trauma. So much of a danger that the entire universe might end if these weaklings are allowed to roam free. They must be put down for the good of all. It's the kind of mentality that gets mentally ill people choked to death on subways because the passengers are afraid of their strange behavior.

How they gave our beloved mommy the same worldview as Zenos without noticing is beyond me. "Meaningless? Men die that others may live. Those who survive are stronger for it." How do you accidentally make an argument for fascism?! How did no one see what was being implied by Endwalker?

So by the time we get to the 6.1 content and they are sticking with morals as benign as the importance teamwork, you get no complaints from me because at least it's not about who we should exterminate for the good of all. But then based on comments here it hit me that Golbez has been working with others the entire time. Both before and after their world fell to darkness, so the argument that their world fell to darkness because they fought alone falls flat. They came out on a tricycle with training wheels and still messed up their themes. I am afraid for Dawntrail. I just don't trust these writers to not have us do a colonialism at this point.

I'm already getting my arguments ready as to why it's wrong to go to a foreign land, conquer them and install a government that serves our interests because at this point we didn't defeat the Garleans--we became them.